


Maybe Our Cursed Life Will Be Better

by obisgirl



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 21:48:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13797027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obisgirl/pseuds/obisgirl
Summary: Rogers and Alice remember but Alice has trouble, trying to understand how her papa could give away their chance to know each other while they were cursed?





	Maybe Our Cursed Life Will Be Better

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time characters are the property of Disney and Adam Horowitz, Edward Kitsis. This fanfic is for pure entertainment.

After the curse breaks, it is as if a fog has lifted. Nothing makes sense for a bit and then Rogers remembers that Tilly - Alice is somewhere in Hyperion Heights. He looks for her by the troll bridge but doesn't find her there, he goes to the park instead. No Alice. 

 

Hook spends most of the day trying to find his daughter and then, around 6, he heads back to the police station and he finds her waiting at the entrance.

 

“Hello papa,” she says with a smile.

 

Hook smiles, runs over and hugs her tight. There's no magic to separate or pull them apart, and for once Hook is grateful to be in a land without magic. For now.

 

He still senses that something is not right, pulls away and looks at his daughter. There's something bothering her.

 

“What is it, love?”

 

Alice doesn't really know. There's a lot of emotions going through her head and it's hard for her to sort through them all at the moment. 

 

“I’m sorry papa but I need space,” she says.

 

“You're not happy that we're together finally?”

 

“I am, it's just...it's a lot to digest..waking up,” she says. Alice hugs him tight one more time and walks away. “I’ll be talking to you soon, promise,”

 

Hook doesn't really know what to make of Alice’s behavior. He understands that she has been awake before; Tilly off her meds, going around and trying to wake up Weaver. She didn't seek him out and he gets it. She had a limited time before her meds started kicking in to help him remember. 

 

Does she feel guilty that she didn't try to wake him too?

 

Or is there something else?

 

Instead of going back inside the station, he goes to Roni’s. He sits at the bar and asks for a drink. The bartender is someone else.

 

“Where’s Roni?”

 

“Downstairs cellar,” she says, “Do you still want that drink?”

 

Hook gets up and goes downstairs to the cellar; he hears Roni’s voice and someone else. “Regina?” he calls, “I need to speak to you,”

 

A moment later, the door opens of its own volition and he walks in. She's standing there with a Zelena. “It appears that you broke the curse,” he observes.

 

“We did Captain; though, it wasn't easy,” Regina says, “What can I do for you?”

 

“I need to understand what my daughter might be thinking,” he says. 

 

Regina sighs. “You reunited and she's not happy about it?”

 

“Did you ask her?” Zelena ventures.

 

“She said she was but that's not the impression I got,”

 

“The only advice I can give you is to give her time and she will come to you when she's ready to talk,” Regina advises, “We were cursed for about a long time Hook. It's over but that doesn't mean things will be easy going forward, for any of us,”

 

“Aye,” he agrees.

 

~~

 

It's hard for Hook to keep his distance from his daughter and give her the space that he needs for the next few days. His instinct is to drop anything that he's doing and try and help Alice figure out what's wrong. He always helped her with her problems. 

 

~~

 

_ Alice doesn't like being left alone but this one time, Hook doesn't really have a choice. His heart is cursed and as much as it physically and mentally hurts to leave the tower, that is what he must do.  Alice can’t help him fix this.  They had a discussion earlier, more like a fight that she wanted to help him but he knew that she couldn’t.   _

 

_ How can they share true love’s kiss when he can’t even touch her without hurting himself?  _

 

_ He has to leave her.  _

 

_ His own actions remind him of his father, leaving him and Liam in the middle of the night during a really bad storm. Hook is not his father and promised himself that he would never become that man.  _

 

_ Hook was selfish once when it came to his revenge against the crocodile but all that changed once Alice was born. Now he can become the kind of parent he always wanted, and a better person. He just needed a reason.  _

 

_ Sometimes, parents have to make sacrifices for their children. He has to leave and try to find a way to break this bloody curse. For Alice. Before scaling down the wall, he writes a letter for Alice to read when she wakes.  _

 

_ He will search to the ends of the earth for a cure if he has too. Then he can come home to Alice and they can be a family. _

 

~~

 

It feels like any other day in Hyperion Heights as Alice sits on the troll head. The curse broke a few days ago. Everything was confusing for a bit and then she remembered that she could find her papa at the police station. 

 

She waited patiently outside for hours before he met her. She was happy to see him at first, actually get to hug him for the first time in years since finding each other. 

 

That's when she remembered the totem that Rumple made for her. It was supposed to be a way for them to remain connected even if they didn't fully remember. 

 

Something happened and she forgot about her papa. He forgot about her. 

 

It's too painful for her to think about what happened. 

 

Maybe he thought that she brought him too much heartache and would be happier without her. He put his whole life on hold for her and maybe, it had become a burden that he felt he couldn't carry on in this new life. 

 

“Stop thinking that Alice! Papa loves you and always has,” she chastises herself.

 

But what happened then? 

 

How come they were separated?

 

“Is something wrong?” a woman asks her suddenly. 

 

Alice looks and sees a blonde-braided woman with pale skin, her eyes somewhat familiar but not really.  “Do you need help?” she asks again. 

 

“I reunited with my papa but I’m confused about something. I’m not sure you can help me understand,” Alice says. 

 

The woman smiles and sits beside her, brushing her robes aside.  “Well, maybe I can. I have a motherly instinct to help where I’m needed and I think you can use my help. Tell mum what’s wrong,” she says. 

 

Alice sighs. “That’s the problem really. I don’t know what is the problem,” she admits. 

 

The woman’s smile grows wider. “You’re from the other world, aren’t you dear?” she questions, “It’s alright. There’s no need to be alarmed. I am too,” 

 

Alice hesitates.  “In the other land, a wizard gave my papa something that would help him remember me.  But he was cursed like I was. He didn’t remember me and I’m just trying to understand what happened,”

 

“Well, maybe he didn’t want to be with you. Maybe he thought that you had become a burden to him and he would be better off without you,” she muses. 

 

“That’s not very motherly advice,” Alice reasons, “I think I’d rather be alone,” 

 

The woman arches an eyebrow and then stands.  “You know sometimes, we are better off on our own. Sometimes, people think they know what is best for us, don’t actually,” she reasons. 

 

“I don’t think my papa would have given away the one thing that he knew could keep us together without a good reason,” Alice defends. 

 

“If that’s what you want to believe, then so be it,” she muses, “But sometimes the truth can be more painful,”

 

Alice closes her eyes, not wanting to believe the alternative. She knows her papa and he just wouldn’t do something like that to her. He wouldn’t. But there’s the lingering doubt that maybe the woman is right. Alice opens her eyes and the woman is gone. 

 

~~

 

Rumple knows what a brooding and depressed pirate looks like as Hook clenches his jaw uncomfortably and sits behind his desk, trying to focus on police reports. He comes over and taps his desk. 

 

“I’ve been watching you trying to be busy for the last few days when it is painfully obvious that your mind is elsewhere,” Rumple observes.

 

Hook’s grumpy and doesn't really want to talk. 

 

Rumple sighs. “Suit yourself then,” he says and starts to walk away. 

 

“If Gideon told you that he wanted space from you after you had been separated by a curse, how would you interpret that?”

 

Rumple comes back over and beckons his partner to follow him. They are the only two fairytale characters in the police department, they have to be discreet about their conversations. Hook follows him to the evidence locker.

 

“Alice doesn't want to talk to you?” he asks after closing the door behind them.

 

“She said that she needs space but it's been four days,” Hook cries.

 

Rumple sighs. “Our children are complex people,” he admits, “At least Gideon doesn't hate me anymore,”

 

Hook looks at him with panicked blue eyes. 

 

“Bad thing to say right now, especially when you don't know her state of mind,” Rumple says.

 

Hook somewhat relaxes. “So what do you think is going on?”

 

“I can't say for sure because I haven't spoken to her either since the curse broke but I have my suspicion,”

 

Hook raises an eyebrow. “And what's that?”

 

“The thing you were supposed to use to keep the pair of you together,” he says, “But I understand why you didn't. Alice likely doesn't,” 

 

~~

 

_ Alice wakes, her stomach growling and she gets out of bed.  She missed breakfast but she’s sure that she can find something somewhere to eat. As she changes, she notices a letter on her bedside table with her papa’s handwriting on it.  She opens it and starts reading:  _

 

**_Dear Alice,_ **

 

**_I am sorry that we fought last night and I appreciate you wanting to help me break this curse. But the truth is love, is that you can’t. I have to find another way so we can be a family again. Hopefully, I won’t take too long and I’ll be coming back for you. We can leave this tower and you can see the world. I want that for you, Alice._ **

 

**_I’m taking your rook and I’m leaving you my knight; so, even if we never find our way back to each other, we will always have our mutual love of chess to connect us._ **

 

**_It's also a promise that I will come back one day._ **

 

**_I know, it’s not enough and will never be.  What's important is that we will always be connected._ **

 

**_I also want you to find love and happiness, darling because you deserve it more than anything else.  I don’t want you to preoccupy your time trying to find a way to break my curse._ **

 

**_Love always,_ **

 

**_Papa_ **

 

_ Alice drops the letter and a small tear escapes her eye.  She looks at his knight, twirling it between her fingers.  _

 

_ This one chess piece is the only thing she has left from her father. He’s right, this small piece will never be enough for Alice.  She deserves better and more than that, wants him to come home.  Their life may not be perfect but at least they can try and find a way to have a good life.  _

 

_ But there’s no chance for that.  _

 

_ He’s gone to try and fix this cursed mess. And she's alone in the tower. _

 

_ This is the last thing she wanted him to do.   _

 

_ She’s never been alone before, or without him.  Her papa has been there since day one. They've shared all sorts of memories and talks in this tower. It's a prison but over the years, her papa made it feel like a home. Because he helped shape it into a home and now, the tower is back to being what it was before. _

 

_ This new curse--of the poisoned heart---is going to need something stronger to break it once and for all. With that in mind, Alice has a renewed purpose to escape the tower: to help her papa break the curse keeping them apart and it starts with research.  _

 

_ “I will find a way to escape papa and when I do, I'll find a cure for this curse and bring you home,” she vows.  _

 

~~

 

Hook doesn’t like waiting for Alice to come to him. If Rumple is right and the totem is what is bothering her, he needs to talk to her now and explain why he gave it away.  He needs her to understand that he couldn’t let Ella and Lucy be separated.  He finds Alice sitting by herself at the waterfront park, staring at the ocean.  

 

He wasn’t expecting to find her there but he suspects that she needed to make sense of her thoughts and likes the water. 

 

“Alice?” he asks, approaching her, “Can we talk sweetheart?” 

 

She looks up and at him and nods okay. He sits down next to her and looks at the water.

 

“I remember stories you told me about your time on  _ The Jolly Roger _ and I started painting an image of her in my head, hoping one day to step foot on board and sail away,” she says, “You gave her up and you gave away the totem too, the one thing that could have kept us together throughout the curse. We could have been together and a family,” she says.

 

“Alice, listen to me love. I didn’t give it away because I didn’t want to be with you,” he cautions her. 

 

“Are you sure? We were strangers in our past life and were strangers in the curse, maybe you wanted it that way,” she cries, “It’s not like you had a choice when I came into your life,” 

 

“I know it seems like that but you have to understand the circumstances.  Yes, I could have kept the totem and we could have been together but if I didn’t give it to Ella, Lucy would be all alone. She’s only a child and I couldn’t let that happen. I know you didn’t want to be alone but you’re a survivor like me, lass. I knew that you would be alright,” 

 

Alice shakes her head. “Except I wasn’t. I was alone, on the streets and I didn’t have you to take care of me. I had to learn to take care of myself and do what I could to survive, just like the first time you left me all those years ago…” she continues. 

 

“I left you that letter so you knew why I couldn’t stay. You knew that love,” he defends. 

 

“I know but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t hurt any less,” she continues, “I hoped when Rumple gave you that totem that we could have a better life together; one, where we didn’t have to keep our distance from each other because of a stupid curse. We could have been a family,” 

 

Hook sighs.  “We can be a family now Alice. If we stay here in this new land, we never have to worry about that curse separating us ever again,” he says, “We hugged for the first time in years a few days ago.  The curse, our curse is gone. We can start over,” 

 

There's still some anger and resentment bubbling in her and something else. 

 

“Alice, this is about more than me giving away the totum,” he observes, “Please tell me,”

 

“I was seventeen when you left. I know you didn't want me to waste my time trying to find a cure but that's exactly what I did anyway. You know what else I discovered about myself when you were gone? I hate being alone. The world feels so much smaller when you don't have anyone else around to talk to. I spent days reading as many books as I could, trying to find anything that could help both of us. Sometimes, at the end of the day, before going to bed, I would talk to you about what I found (or didn't find). I was alone for a long time and I didn't like it,”

 

“I used to sit by the window reading my books and hope that maybe you were on your way home but you never came. At one point, I assumed that you died or forgot about me,”

 

Hook knows that he stayed away too long but that was because he gave up trying to find a cure for his curse. He thought that Emma could help him but his plans for her changed after he found out that she was pregnant with his other self’s child. 

 

Now, he knows that he should have tried to get back to Alice sooner. A young girl growing up on her own without her papa was not what Alice deserved. He was so determined to break the curse himself that he missed what was right in front of him: his own daughter's happiness. 

 

Hook hugs her and rubs her back.  “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Alice,” he cries with her. 

 

“You're not angry with me?”

 

“No,” he reasons, “You’re right. I should have stayed,”

 

Alice smiles at him thoughtfully. “It would have been nice but I also remember what happens when you try and hug me. I don't want you to be in pain because of me...just please don't leave me again, papa?!”

 

“Aye. I promise,”

 

“I’m sorry too, for yelling at you,” she says, “I’m sorry for thinking that you didn’t want me. I’ve been thinking all the worst reasons why you weren’t with me during the curse. Even this lady came to me and tried to offer me some advice but she didn’t really help. Just made me feel worse about the situation,”

 

Hook scowls.  “I’m sorry about that love but she was wrong,” he says and then his face softens, “A long time ago, I made a choice that I have never regretted and that was, choosing to stay by your side and letting go of my revenge and all that anger.  Regardless of how you came into this world, you’re my daughter and I love you,” he tells her. 

 

Alice feels like crying again but happy tears. 

 

“We can choose to live in the past where there’s so much sadness and hurt or we can move on and live a better life now. I have a spare room in my apartment here in Hyperion Heights, want to move in?” 

 

“I suppose it will be nice to have an actual room and a bed to sleep on,” she reasons, “You can make me marmalade sandwiches for lunch,” 

 

“It’s a start love,” he says and Alice hugs him tight.  

 

But Hook scowls again and is fiercely worried that Gothel got to Alice and tried to turn her against him, but there is one thing Gothel underestimated: that he will do anything to protect Alice from her mother.  

 

The End

  
  



End file.
